A Song of Askaldenfirsts and Dragons. Book one: The outlanders (Part I-IV)
Chapter 6: Yashkirran

Yashkirran Vindrick made his way through the Blood Swamp. He was still undecided as to whether, when he crossed the swamp, he should stay and spend the night in Immildandrenall, a medium-sized town in Eileenelia, near the border with Kaushmanashtoon. In the arqilun town, there were also the isterses, to which Yashkirran belonged, but there were more elves, and Yashkirran could be recognized, even though not many knew how he looked like. And many years ago when he began the mobilization, while he was a military commander and not yet a king, he sent letters with birds, the ehputaivens. Ehputaivens are white or light grey birds with large beautiful and intelligent turquoise eyes. Birds delivered letters by air to almost anywhere in Ermir. In letters addressed to the isterses, a dark-skinned race, and the azdairiks, the nimble assassins with narrow eyes, and the wallitarfs, the desert dwarfs, and the arnadacres, the sand elves who lived in Norvinoria, Eileenelia and Farderland, there was an order for mobilization, and that it was necessary to keep the order in the strictest secrecy, and also if someone remains in the mentioned kingdoms, he would be considered an enemy of Kaushmanashtoon, sentenced to death, without the right to pardon, even if he does not fight on the side of the enemy.

When king Yashkirran was in Alaidaksinish with his army, it was then, at night, when only the stars and torches of the city illuminated the space and the camp that the royal army had set up slept outside the city, sheltered in the shadows… It was then that dragons flew in and began mercilessly burn everything around.

It was unthinkable! Children! The children of the sand elves tried to hide from the fire-breathing monsters that took their lives with their flames. The fire was merciless, hungry, gluttonous, and it ate everyone in its path. Children! Yashkirran burst into tears. He remembered how a dwarf on a giant combat gatakanati, which resembled an Earth triceratops, rushed at a landing dragon with great speed, and the dragon did not have time to react, and the huge horns dug into the lower part of the dragon’s belly, and the wounded dragon made a rumbling sound, belching upward in flames. Then he nevertheless took off another dragon attacked with a fiery stream the wallitarf dwarf and his fearless gatakanati, gnawing their skin, making the creatures ash-black, right down to molten bones. However, the rumor that only one dragon died was untrue. The army of Kaushmanashtoon was huge, and the flying yadonagrishes spat out corrosive acid and quite often got hit the dragons. Several dragons were wounded, several! It’s just that all of them were able to fly away after the destruction of the king’s army, the city and the bloody-fiery genocide of citizens, the horrific destruction of buildings, architectural monuments and the legacy of the entire nation! Children! The quick, nimble little sand elves who had cheered the army at their gates were now bones and ashes, sometimes with chunks of roasted meat. And even those who survived, will die soon, half-burnt bodies, faces covered with the horror of pain, could not survive because the city’s food and water supplies were completely destroyed. Burning yadonagrishes flashing like matches, wallitarfs, screaming inhabitants, all instinctively ran to the wells and many fell into them. There is no more clean water left in the city.

If Yashkirran had known how many lies there were in the prophecies, if he had understood that secrets, signs and “the truths” that were studied him in manuscripts and books could not be trusted, and he would not have been so self-confident, then maybe the tragedy would have been avoided. And now, realizing that he was wrong and that different creatures and races paid for his mistake, he hated himself! However, even if Yashkirran had not gathered an army, perhaps the dragons would have come anyway, and perhaps they would have burned just as many living creatures as they did. But he was the one who brought them to Alaidaksinish!

Not so long ago, on the way to the Blood Swamp, his karkhash died, and he had to use fire magic to fry it and eat it. He was able to dry some of the meat. Many isterses were weak in magic, but Yashkirran was excellent at it, though his magic was limited to the school of destruction, pain and damage.

The Blood Swamp is a huge territory, although several times smaller than the Marshes of Fire. It was Blood Swamp because of its red color. Paths and solid soil occasionally appeared in the swamp, because mushrooms grew here - turshururs, having an earthy taste of vanilla and considered a delicacy. Turshururs were highly valued because of the danger of picking them up, but the locals took risks because of the high prices of mushrooms, so the paths were well-trodden. But one should never rely on the illusion of reliability, now Yashkirran was well aware of this.

Isters walked cautiously, examining the shimmering blood-red spots that seemed to be scattered along the paths. Suddenly he heard a feigned cough behind him.

“Dear deshaar,” said Dombard, who was in Lanialis’s body.

“Do you know me?“Yashkirran tensed, preparing his hands to cast a fireball.

A beautiful young elf woman, Laylith’s mother, appeared before him. Her blue eyes were slightly tinted, probably due to the presence of Dombard inside, her dark blond hair sparkled with its light yellow tips, reminiscent of pouring sand.

“No, I don’t know you,” Dombard lied. “But pardon me, you seem to be from a noble family, and I know that the noble isterses I should respectfully call “deshaar”.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Yashkirran calmed down a little, “my name is Khemesh Skarzborrush,” he quickly invented a name for himself, though he went too far with the surname, since the Skarzborrush family had founded a city in the rock, and they named this city after themselves, Skarzborrush.

“And I am Lanialis KelGalanod,” Dombard grimaced in a feigned smile, deliberately choosing Lanis’s maiden name, “Can you help me out, Khemesh? I would like someone to help me cross this terrible and dangerous swamp.”

“Of course, dear el-el,” Yashkirran said respectfully to Lanis. El in ancient arqilun language meant “exalted”, el-el an appeal to the arqilun nobility.

Yashkirran understood perfectly well that the elf woman, though she might didn’t know who he was, knew for sure that he was isters, and that the war had already begun. And even if the dragons spoiled the offensive plan, and the army was destroyed, however, even in this case, when they would have reached Eileenelia, he could have been taken into custody and subsequently put on trial, even if they would think that he was a simple soldier. Due to the absence of a committed crime, he may not have been executed, but he would almost certainly have been convicted of serving in the Kaushmanashtoon army and would have been sentenced to several years in prison. So now helping the arqilunian woman, who is clearly of noble descent, should be useful to Yashkirran, and he may be able to use her influence to advance his own interests.